The weed and feed probably had time to absorb before the rain. Consider doing away with weed&feed in the future, and use a spray weed killer without fertilizer. In this manner you can get more weed killing action, without worrying about over fertilization and burn. Fertilize with mild organic products, which are better for the soil too.

Thanks for the reply. What spray would you recommend for an entire lawn? I have used a handheld sprayer for spot treatment, but the stuff I use )green bottle can't recall) does NOT kill all the weed types in my lawn but it is safe on the grass.

I like 'Bayer advanced' products........they have a regular broadleaf weed killer, and another product called - 'all in one' that controls broadleaf weeds & grassy weeds too.

I would stay away from Weed and Feed since it contains Atrazine. It is very stable, so it can persist in the environment for a long time. Over 3 months in the soil, and decades in ground water. Weed and Feed is highly toxic.

The best way to kill weeds is testing the soil, and using the right product. Herbicides kills weeds, but don't fix the problems. Same weeds will keep appearing every season unless you fix the problem. Check the soil test recommendation , and use products accordingly.

First of all, how often should I use Scotts Weed and Feed?

Never. So I agree with everyone else on every lawn forum on the Internet. In the past WnF products didn't do either one very well. The reason was that weeds die better when they are well fertilized. Apply WnF and the fertilizer and herbicide try to go to work at the same time. By the time the plants are well fertilized, the herbicide had been depleted. Now they are using atrazine, which, as J Gil says, has other issues. It should kill weeds but it also kills many grasses, and trees, and shrubs and everything else with roots in your yard. There are spray products which can be used that, when properly applied, do not even touch the soil, so they're qualified safer.

Secondly, many people want to apply WnF to kill the early spring weeds. What this does is apply a fertilizer at the very worst time of year, early spring. What they should do it apply a pure preemergent herbicide with no fertilizer at all. Then apply fertilizer in late May.

You're in South Texas. Just out of curiosity, where? Do you have bermuda or St Augustine. The only "safe" herbicide for St Augustine is atrazine. The rest of them will wipe out the lawn. BUT STILL, don't use the WnF types of atrazine. Use the spray. And wait until all the weeds are up and growing before you spray (April depending on where you live), because you can only spray atrazine once a year. And when you spray, all you have to do is moisten the leaves, not drench the soil. And when you spray, try to keep the spray on the weeds as much as practical. Overspray can kill other plants in the yard. Read the directions, twice.

So to answer your question, I would not apply anything else until May. If you want to use organics we can help you pick one and how much to apply. If you want to use Scott's, go for it. I can't help you with usage, because I don't use it.

Here is a sample of my grass... FYI I am in southeast texas where it gets very hot and humid if that helps the diagnostics. I know next to nothing but would guess Bermuda?

Thank you again.

Also, everyone has touted "mild organic products" for fertilizing, but.. what do the experts specifically recommend?

I had a neighbor with a lovely lawn recommend the weednfeed, but apparently it can get results but is not best!

Holy cow Microlife has 20 products.... which one would I need? I'm interested (don't know price yet for my 1/3 acre plot) but I'm far from being a novice and don't know what product to use.

In all frankness too, I would rather ask online here because the last time I went to ask a local store what they recommended they seemed to know about as much as me. I guess I have lawn trust issues???

I use the ocean harvest liquid for most everything, but on my roses & blooming plants I use a different one called amazing blooms or maximum blooms or some such thing. The formula is slightly different for flowers I guess.

Oh, yeah, SE Texas got some rain. South Texas barely got any. It is very important for us to help you to know where you live. Don't be shy about that. If you live in Orange, tell us. Otherwise I was assuming Brownsville.

Here's what I've learned here, there, and everywhere about caring for St Aug. Mow at the mower's highest setting - ALWAYS. There is never any reason to lower the deck to a lower setting. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means 1 inch all at one time. Infrequently means once a week with temps in the 90s, once every 2 weeks with temps in the 80s, once every 3 weeks with temps in the 70s, and once a month the rest of the year. With your humidity I would be stretching those times out even more. Fertilize once in May, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving unless you're using organics. With organics you can add more dates to that if you want to. I try to stick to the federal holidays so I can remember them.

Thanks, I am in Beaumont which is about two hours east of Houston. It's a very humid area.

So are you saying that my grass is definitely St Augustine? I can get better photos if need be.

As for mowing, increasing my mower height years ago was a great help. I got that tip from gardenweb. (I don't mow at the highest setting, but definitely higher than medium.) My adjacent neighbors mow very low, almost putting green-like, but probably more like baseball outfield level. Their lawns definitely show more weeds as well and I don't know how that effects me.

Take a photo of the lawn, not just a blade, but use camera "close up" setting and get within 6-12" away so many blades can be seen clearly. Sometimes DSLR camera settings use a flower for the icon to take this pic, there is a reason they use a flower :)

I would not put down more synthetic fertilizer now. You need to measure how much fertilizer (1 pound by 1 thousand square feet) and apply at right times of the year. Here is some basic info:

http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Lawn_Fertilizer_Chart

St Augustine has a very characteristic blunt tip instead of a pointy tip on the blades. You have St Aug. But do take another close up like newto suggested and at more of a distance. We like to see lawn porn. Sometimes we see things happening that the owner doesn't recognize.

Very glad to hear about the benefits of raising your mower. I have let my St Aug grow up to 32 inches high. It just gets better and better. Mowing it back down is a pain, but the grass loved blowing around in the wind.

Ok here's an update for the lawn. The weeds are getting kind of bad I figure the weednfeed usually yellows them by now but I believe it can take a couple weeks.

Here are 4 photos to help figure out what kind of grass this is...

Maybe you can also recommend what kind of best treatment to pursue?

Thank you.

After uploading these, it looks like they are a lot smaller than I took them -- you can't zoom in. If you need to zoom in I can try to upload them somewhere else. Just let me know.

These pictures are sized fine. When you click on the picture the bigger one appears.

The problem with these pictures is you took them in the full sunlight which increases the contrast making them hard to see. Also if you could move in to about 3 inches away from the grass, that would help.

How are these 2 photos?

(third photo) Also, this seems to be a new weed I have this year it's not too familiar to me but maybe I just had a few in the past -- there are definitely more now.

Thank you again for helping.

Hi, just checking in if anyone was able to review the new photos... is this St Augustine grass for sure? And also there is that new "breed" of weed I wonder what it is? Thank you.

Definitely St Augustine. The second grass pic, taken in the shade, is good. All the rest are taken in the sun which makes it very hard to see. Here's an example I took several years ago. Top pic is obviously in the sun.

Not sure what the weed is. The best way to kill weeds in St Augustine is with an atrazine spray. Many other weed killers will also kill the St Augustine. Atrazine is a very harsh material, so read the directions 2 to 3 times before using it. Don't get any on you.

i looked in my garage.... i found some Godons SPeed Zone lawn killer. Is this stuff off-limits for st augustine?

If the bottle says lawn killer, I think that it would probably kill your lawn....

Lol fair enough! The last one said safe and won't kill my lawn but it did so now I'm just asking :)

Read the labels. Three times. Understand the active ingredient and if you have questions ask them. If that product contains glysophate don't use it on your lawn, it will kill anything green.

is this your product?

Lawn WEED killer?

if so its a weed killer not a lawn killer. However that is probably not safe for St Augustine grass. Read the manufacturer instructions and warnings three times.

Thanks for the reply. Yes that is the exact product I am referring to and the active ing are:

2,4 D 2 ethhylexyl ester

mecoprop p acid

dicamba acid

carfentheazone ethyl

The product label states do not apply to St Augustine. It will kill it if you do.

Alright, so i got my atrazine now and a spray bottle. I missed the "pre emergence" but the crab grass this year seems to have gotten worse. maybe because i didnt weed n feed again? i dont know. but anyways, i was wondering:

1) how "thick" do i spray the atrazine?

2) it says apply at under 90F so is it useful to spray this now to kill other weeds?

3) when should i apply this for the fall time for best effect (given houston, TX type climate)?

4) i recently sprayed another weed killer... can you use 2? the other one was some ortho concentrate w/o crabgrass control.

5) i bought just straight fertilizer (not the weed n feed again) and i never put it down but should i now? i didnt want to feed the weeds until i had the weed killer.

i really appreciate the help and looking forward to see what we do with this lawn!

Does the weed and feed label state it acts as a pre emergent stopping crab grass?

1) thick is wrong word, just get it a bit damp

2) spray it evening time when temp lower and no rain expected the night

3) I don't understand this question

4) was the other spray safe for St Augustine ? Wait 1 or more weeks give your grass time to recoup.

5) put the fert down and spray weeds same night it's fine and getting late, ideally and much earlier in the season you would have dropped pre emergent sprayed other weeds then dropped fert around Memorial Day . However you can do all of that now.

Are you planning to spray the whole yard with atrazine, or just spot spray? I would spot spray each & every suspected Crabgrass head, but I would not broadcast a spray across the entire yard--That's a bit wasteful & atrazine is tough stuff.

It's really not too late on the preM this year, all this rain & cool weather has kept them behind schedule in my yard. The atrazine should be used in combination with a good preM to keep the heads from coming back anyway. I use dimension & it actually kills baby Crabgrass up to a single tiller, so it can be applied later than the others on the market. Late app plus late growth means you're not too late for preM & it will make a world of difference.

I also recommend a product called bonide Sedge ender, which targets Crabgrass & nutsedge specifically, including a preM already mixed in. Ace has both these products, but the big box stores usually only carry fast acting stuff to keep you coming back.

newtolawncare Scranton 6a

thank you for the answers...

question 3 was in regard to the atrazine label explicitly stating to only apply 2 times per year, but i know those times vary whether youre in new england or houston so i was wondering what holiday people shoot for as far as timetable in the southeast texas (muggy, hot) environment.

Gotcha I would defer to southern grass experts but err on side of caution and apply during beginning of weed growing season, spring, and Labor Day ish.

Ok I read the label and the supplement from Image Atrazine, but i dont see it reference the spot treatment. It says not to apply more than 2 times per year, but what about spot treating?

I did a test on a couple areas to make sure it wont kill the lawn, and it didn't but it also did not kill the weeds...

How often can I spot treat with the atrazine?

Thanks agian.

I think twice a year is probably referencing a broadcast spray. How long since you spot sprayed? The product definitely works, it just may take some time.

It was at least a week, maybe 11 days?

If it was an unhealthy yellow I would not bother but maybe i didnt "soak" the weeds enough because they seemed fairly healthy. On the other hand, i tested a weed on the driveway and it yellowed. Not totally dead yet, but looks like it got a good dose.

Weird. I'd hit it again if it were my lawn, but I understand playing it safe.

Ok well something bad happened. I have this dead spot that grew about twice in size over the last week. Is this from too much atrazine? The odd thing is this is not an area I sprayed the most on... Should I water the area more? I added some fertilizer to the area too,